In Norse mythology, Nanna is married to the god Baldr. She is described as the daughter of Nepr and the mother of Forseti, the god associated with justice and reconciliation.
Nanna’s most prominent story occurs after Baldr’s death. In the Prose Edda, Baldr is killed by the mistletoe weapon used by the blind god Höðr. Nanna dies from grief or sorrow, according to the account, and is placed on Baldr’s funeral ship alongside him. Their son Forseti later appears among the gods who survive or inhabit the renewed world after Ragnarök.
The poetic sources provide fewer details about Nanna than the prose account. Her name and role can also be confused with other figures called Nanna in later traditions, including a Mesopotamian goddess whose name is unrelated to the Norse character.
Nanna is therefore important to Norse afterlife traditions because her death accompanies Baldr’s departure to Hel, although she is not the ruler of that realm.